A film like Golmaal 3 is both anticipated and greeted with skepticism. On the one hand, the stylish trailers, promos and spots, coupled with a profitable release date (Diwali) and the most aggressive promotion in recent times after Ashtavinayak‚Äôs own Dabangg, give the movie an edge. On the other hand, there‚Äôs the doubt considering the poor content of the surprise superhit Golmaal Returns, post the interestingly narrated fun ride Golmaal. What‚Äôs more, Rohit Shetty‚Äôs All The Best, despite promising a lot of laughs, didn‚Äôt live up to the hype, as compared to his more accomplished efforts like Sunday. For a movie that‚Äôs the third installment to any franchise, the levels have to be upped and barriers have to be broken. Does Rohit Shetty provide us the expected entertainment level?

Just like the previous sequel, this one also starts off from scratch with a completely new chapter and characters, who (not surprisingly) have kept the same names as the previous two films. Gopal (Ajay Devgn) and Laxman (Shreyas Talpade) are sons of Pritam (Mithun Chakraborty) used to remember as Guddi. Guddi herself remembers Pritam ‚Äď himself a son of Madhav (Arshad Warsi), Lucky (Tusshar Kapoor) and another Laxman (Kunal Khemu) ‚Äď to be Pappu. The sons are pitted against each other until the two lost lovers unite in marriage, courtesy the link to these people, Dabboo (Kareena Kapoor), and the brothers are forced to live under one roof. Problems ensue, but then a Don with a bad memory and a stolen diamond necklace get involved and the family has to unite to overthrow him and his gang. Will they be able to?

The first one was intelligently packaged with smart writing, whereas the second one failed mostly in its writing part. This one, however, has a very simple story, but the narrative is so powerful, and the dialogues and the situations keep you in constant splits all through. The makers of this part have indeed worked hard to ensure that there is not a single dull moment in the whole of the film. If there‚Äôs no comedy, you‚Äôre either cackling at the spoofy seventies unrequited-love-saga of Chakraborty‚Äôs and Shah‚Äôs characters, or awed by the superbly choreographed action sequences. And if there‚Äôs nothing else, there‚Äôs some impressively executed music videos!

The greatest part of the film is the fact that though there are a lot of comic scenes handled with panache, an equal amount of hard work is seen on the writing and execution of the couple of emotional scenes as well, which shows. Tusshar‚Äôs outburst scene pulls your heartstrings hard. The whole package is so well knit that you feel you want more out of it. Sure, it‚Äôs not really any intelligent cinema, but in a franchise like Golmaal, especially post Golmaal Returns, you wouldn‚Äôt expect a lot of logic, though there will be arguments about the moderate intelligence level kept in his earlier Sunday. The one- liners are a blast, and you‚Äôre sure as hell to take them with you and laugh over it with your friends long after the movie‚Äôs over.

Production design of the movie is pretty good. Styling of the characters make them look like they‚Äôre straight out of some clothing advert, which actually isn‚Äôt that bad, as Shetty was obviously looking for the complete entertainment package with dollops of glamour. Action choreography and stunts are jaw dropping, and tell us one simple thing ‚Äď Rohit Shetty still hasn‚Äôt gotten over his habit of breaking, overturning or exploding some real authentic cars; here loads of retro muscle types.

Cinematography is extremely good; you can actually see some really good frame composition here, combined with captivating visuals. Camerawork and steadicam work are smooth and deserve praise, especially in the action sequences, introductory shots of the characters and the music videos. The background score by Sanjoy Chowdhury is commendable, whereas the music by Pritam is very massy and those who didn‚Äôt enjoy it are bound to grab the soundtrack after watching the film. The title track and ‚ÄėAle‚Äô are the notable and memorable ones in the film. The best part about the movie is despite being an all-out entertainer, the songs in the film don‚Äôt interject abruptly at all; instead, they all appear perfectly well in the narrative.

Performance-wise, Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor are the show-stealers of the film. I had feared that Kareena would be forced to play an irritating character like the one in the previous sequel, but here she is energetic, and her demeanor is infectious ‚Äď in fact though there can‚Äôt be any comparisons made against the two, she vaguely reminds us of the bubbly Geet of Jab We Met.

Ajay Devgn has hit the comic nail right in the heads of the viewers. Whether he‚Äôs trying to do a Beera spoof (and I wonder if anyone noticed that), or he‚Äôs trying to make the viewers laugh simply, or even in the singular emotional scene, he does it with panache! And as far as the action is concerned, he does a mind-blowing job in that too!

Tusshar Kapoor comes in as a close second in this list. It‚Äôs a surprise for the viewers to see that he can handle the most emotional scenes with gut-wrenching dexterity though his character‚Äôs physical restrictions gives him a bit of a challenge to portray that on celluloid. But he‚Äôs done it and how! Arshad Warsi, thankfully, gets out of his annoying hyperactive-Madhav act in the second part and garbs a more flexible comic role, and comes out well-noticed in the crowd. Kunal Khemu is hilarious with his one-liners and his expressions when he utters them! Shreyas Talpade is pretty good, and handles the stammers pretty well enough for comic convenience.

Mithun Chakraborty is a revelation ‚Äď we all know that he had done pretty well in the comic scenes in his earlier masala movies, but here, he actually goes all out. Ratna Pathak Shah is a performer and her comic style is impeccably her ‚Äď restrained, but impactful. Prem Chopra in his short role is efficient. Johnny Lever is good ‚Äď in fact it‚Äôs a pleasant surprise to see him back in the comic scene post All the Best.

Vrajesh Hirjee isn‚Äôt repetitive ‚Äď in fact I feared he would be donning an annoying character, but though the essentials have been faithful to the franchise, his character sketch is completely different. Sanjai Mishra is my favorite of most comic characters. He has the potential to crack the audience up even when he‚Äôs restrained. Mukesh Tiwari as Vasooli does nothing more than to be faithful to the genre ‚Äď he does nothing new here, but he‚Äôs still funny to watch. Others are good.

Well, overall, the movie‚Äôs got oozes of style and truckloads of entertainment value, with a crackling narrative, terrific performances, and fun all through! This is the movie of the season; the best Diwali gift you could gift to a friend or your relatives! This one‚Äôs a must watch and should be a priority movie on the ‚Äúmovies to watch‚ÄĚ list this season! Shetty‚Äôs back in form, and one must say, with a bang. This movie literally goes by the tagline and provides ‚Äúthrice the fun‚ÄĚ in the whole franchise! Go watch it; and go watch it now!